Cheating!
by annie-lauren
Summary: When Ivy came back for her sixth year, she never knew that a cheater could catch her eye.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing of this story, except the plot and Ivy. All rights belong to J.K Rowling.

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Ivy stepped on to the platform for the sixth time in her life. The uneven floor and brick walls looked the same as they always had, and the signs that signalled which area she was in hadn't changed. The nine and ten were still bolted to the wall, and the small column in between the two numbers looked as familiar as ever. To her, it never had felt right. She had always felt just that little bit odd when she lined up between the platforms; almost as though she shouldn't be there. She knew it must have looked peculiar just staring up at the partition in front of her, but she had done it so many times she didn't even think that the Muggles looked at her anymore.

She slowly made her way forward, her large luggage causing her to inch forward cautiously, not wanting her suitcase to veer off away from her wanted destination (she had seen that happen to first years _more_ than once). She crept forward, walking faster now, and closed her eyes as she felt herself being pulled through the barrier. It was an odd feeling, as though one was being dragged by a very strong force, but once she was through the void between the platforms, everything came back to normal.

Ivy orientated herself again, unbelieving that her head would still spin even after experiencing the same feeling so many times. She glanced up at the large clock that hung in front of her, and registered that she only had two minutes to get on the train. Slowly looking up, and taking in her surroundings, she saw the same thing she did every year. Many witches and wizards, young and old, bustling about on the platform.

Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

She began to make her way through the crowd, which was filled with lazy seventh years, terrified first years, and worried parents. She smiled, lifted her suitcase, and weaved her way through the masses of people, before carefully placing her right foot forward, and stepping on to the Hogwarts Express.

As she shuffled down the corridor, she recognized the faces of some well-known students as they crushed past her. She had always thought that they should make the passage bigger, it could barely have two people walking alongside each other, and with the added space needed for luggage, the place was cramped. Ivy sighed as she finally got to an empty carriage, and hauled her case onto the rack with slight difficulty. She then sat down, and pulled an uncreased, new book from her bag.

The novel was a fairly long, and the condition showed that it had clearly just been bought; the corners of the pages were at neat right angles and the edges were a crisp white. Ivy smiled as she opened the paperback, her eyes focussing on the small words that flooded over the pages. Although the volume had an odd, off-cream cover, the title was a clear, gold script that read _Muggles: The Myths, The Legends and The Downright Lies_. She laughed to herself as she flicked through the various pages of the wizard book, which contained moving pictures of muggles in various and ridiculous cirmcumstances. Ivy had picked up the book in Flourish and Blotts one summer, and it had been one of her favourites since. She had always had a certain fondness for reading, not just because she managed to find interesting and sometimes simply hilarious books, but also because of the escapism she gained from her odd life. She quickly became engrossed in the chapters, her green eyes flitting quickly over each word. The prose was reflected in her glasses which magnified her eyes, a dark mahogany frame with a medium-sized lens which sat slightly on her cheeks. She tucked a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear, and continued reading.

Utterly engrossed in her paperback, she did not look up when a small gaggle of giggling girls entered the same carriage. They were all laughing over some private joke - probably about some of the boys in the year if their usual conversations were anything to go by. They continued speaking rather loudly, and Ivy rolled her eyes. She knew what their discussion was about, and was currently being enlightened about 'Parvati, Hannah and Padma's Cutest Boys In The School' list.

"Yeah…but what about Cormac? He's so cute!"

"Yeah, yeah, we all know about your 'thing' about Cormac…but Seamus! He's gorgeous!"

"No! Seamus! What about Draco? And Dean…"

"Then of course there's always the Weasley twins!"

The girls all burst in to screams of laughter, and Ivy simply pushed her glasses up her nose, trying to block out the irritating giggles by focussing on the words strung out in front of her. The rest of the journey seemed dragged out thanks to the sniggering of the three girls who had joined the carriage. They continued to titter about each and every boy in her year, discussing each one in great detail, listing their pros and cons.

Ivy sighed loudly as the train finally approached Hogwarts; this had to be the longest train journey she had ever experienced. And it had nothing to do with the time it took. As all of the terrified first year students clambered off the train and on to the platform, she picked up her luggage and made her way to the carriages that took her to the great castle every year.

She ended up seated in a coach with Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas and the Patil twins, but had managed to go the entire ride without speaking to anyone, and just spend the time catching up on more "muggle myths". She couldn't believe that some wizards believed certain things about muggles - the examples in the book included the fact that muggles were in fact, _not _allergic to elm, neither were they afraid of cats, and yes, they did use broomsticks to sweep the floor. Ivy attempted to contain her laughter when she read that some people even believed that muggles originated from a different planet. She had a muggle mother and aunt, which meant she spent a large amount of her time behaving the same way that they did. She however, stopped reading as Luna began to ask her if she had spotted the "greater tailed Niffle" that had just flown past the carriage. The journey didn't last too long, and before she knew it, Ivy was being herded out from the vehicle and hurried into the castle, where she placed her belongings and made her way to the Great Hall for the beginning-of-term speech from the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

She made her way to the Hall quietly, not conversing with anyone apart from Luna, who was informing her that "greater tailed Niffles" lived in forests and enjoyed to eat dirt as it had wonderful nutritional value. Ivy grinned and nodded before bidding Luna goodbye as they sat at their different House tables. Sat at the end, Ivy listened with great enthusiasm throughout the speech, always willing to know what had changed over the summer. She noticed that there were a few new teachers, and as always, one of them was a Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, who had made quite an entrance when coming into the Hall, by not only coming in late, but also managing to stop the enchanted ceiling from raining down on the students. She noticed that he had a false eye, and also what appeared to be a false leg. He was introduced as Professor Moody.

After the usual parts of the speech were over, Dumbledore began talking about a special honour that Hogwarts would have this year. The Triwizard Tournament. From what Ivy picked out, it was a very dangerous competition between three schools, and the students involved would be entered into three very treacherous tasks, from which they could not back out of. She made a mental note not to put her name in the large goblet that sat at the front of the Hall, which was called 'The Goblet Of Fire'. Small blue flames flickered from it, and it was sat on a large concrete stand, making it rise above even the tallest of students.

It was revealed that the two schools joining us were Beauxbatons Academy, and Durmstrang. Ivy knew about these schools from what she had read and heard, but was not ready for the entrances that they made when coming into the Great Hall. The Beauxbatons girls - who were all what looked like Veela - made all of the boys swoon with their good looks, long hair and silly little dance. The Durmstrang boys were all tall, strong and muscular, and performed a sort of warrior dance as their introduction. Although it was impressive, Ivy raised an eyebrow and thought it was all a bit over-the-top. The rules of the Tournament were quickly described, and, much to the dismay of many students in the school, it was said that no under-seventeen year olds would be allowed to enter the competition. This caused outrage among the Gryffindor boys, who were all clearly under the impression they would be entering and winning the Tournament. Most of all, the Weasley twins seemed most unimpressed, and consisted to make loud huffing noises and sighs throughout the last few minutes of the feast. After the last words were said, every student was issued with their timetable, and then hurried off to bed. The first years were always the best part about coming back to Hogwarts, as they were all so scared and always looking for direction from their Heads of House or Prefects. The look on their faces when they were asked to do something they couldn't was utterly priceless.

As she sloped back to the Common Room, Ivy studied her timetable very carefully. She noticed that she had all of the lessons she wanted, and also had a fair few free periods, which she decided, she would spend trying to either get ahead on the rest of the class to save her trouble later, or possibly to sit outside by the Lake, which was one of her favourite places in the castle. She quickly muttered 'balderdash', and stepped through the portrait hole, still studying the paper in her hands.

"Muggle Studies?" She murmured. "Great. Nobody even pays attention in that lesson anyway." She noticed that the class would mix all of the Houses, but was for sixth years only, as the school thought it would 'use the students free time wisely'. "Waste of time." Various groans and moans of the same nature were heard amongst the sixth years as they gathered back in the Common Room.

"Muggle Studies?"

"That sucks!"

"Who actually cares what they do?"

Ivy sat down on the nearest armchair and drummed her fingers on the soft, red fabric, trying to remember her timetable so she wouldn't have to constantly check back to it between classes. After an hour or so, and her lessons for at least _one _day remembered, she made her way up to her dormitory, and noticed two of her fellow Gryffindors sitting on their beds, chatting away. She inwardly groaned as she recognized the voices immediately.

"Yeah, but, like, I still totally think that Cormac is cute!"

"That's so what Hannah said, you totally can't steal her crush! Like, Oh my God."

"Well, I do still agree with you about the Weasley Twins!"

They burst into fits of giggles. Although it was now only Lavender and Parvati's list of cute boys, Ivy realised that the train journey was not the end of the misery. She slumped down on her bed, unnoticed by the tittering girls, and, without getting changed, placed her glasses on her bedside table and pulled the covers over her head.


	2. Chapter 2

Ivy woke that morning quite stiff after sleeping in the jeans she had worn on the train. She rolled over and noticed that her two room-mates were asleep, and breathed a quick sigh of relief. She rooted around in her suitcase for a few minutes, and then pulled some clothes from it. She then swiftly changed, ran her brush through her hair, and put her glasses on. She knew it can't have been that early in the morning, as when she descended the steps to the Gryffindor Common Room, she was greeted with many voices, all mainly sounding irritated at having to go to their lessons.

After she had a rather rushed breakfast down in the Great Hall, which consisted simply of toast, pumpkin juice and little conversation, she pulled her timetable out of her bag, unable to remember what class she had first. All her memorizing clearly hadn't come to head yet, and she glanced quickly over the paper, before groaning slightly. Muggle Studies.

She sighed, and made her way up to Professor Burbage's classroom, the current Muggle Studies teacher. Ivy knew a fair amount about Muggles, therefore wasn't as ignorant as many of the witches and wizards in her year were. However, she also knew that this lesson was an entire waste of time, not only because she already knew most things, but also because only a small percentage of the class paid any attention. As she reached the classroom, she noticed that the class was made up of students from all of the houses and sighed; the class was going to be ridiculous with so many Slytherins. She had nothing against the house, but knew that most of them refused to take into account, or learn about, anything to do with Muggles.

When Professor Burbage opened the doors to the class, and the remaining students vaguely swaggered in, clearly wanting to be someone else, Ivy made her way to the back of the class. She didn't really enjoy being the centre of attention, and although she often knew the answers, she preferred to not put her arm in the air and respond to the question asked. Hello, she wasn't Hermione Granger here.

After everyone had reluctantly sat down, scattered around the room in various groups, mainly chosen through houses, the Professor began the lesson, explaining which areas of Muggle life the class would be studying this year. She explained that it mainly consisted of things that would help the students in the Muggle world, so they would not be stuck if there came a time we would have to do something their way.

"This means," She continued, "That we will be studying areas such as Muggle relationships, Muggle currencies and also Muggle technology!" She finished, although slightly raising her voice with the last few words, struggling to be heard over the many groans that had erupted from the class.

"So if you would like to start by opening your books to page four, and reading through the introduction, and then the chapter on Muggle currency, which starts on page nine-"

The door into the room had just burst open, and three boys had just swung through it, laughing incredibly loudly.

"Mr Weasley! Mr Jordan! Mr Weasley!"

They continued laughing, ignoring what was being shouted at them.

"Can you please explain why you three are late to my lesson?" Professor Burbage continued, her voice raising in pitch at the end of the question.

"Sorry Prof - we got caught up with Peeves on the third floor staircase." The boys burst into another round of raucous laughter, and made their way to the set of three desks in the centre of the class.

"Oh no, no, no. You three will not be sitting together. Mr Weasley, at the front. Mr Jordan, stay where you are, and Mr Weasley, at the back."

Ivy looked up for the first time in the lesson. She saw one of the Weasley twins walking towards the back of the class, and she glanced over at the empty desk that was one away from hers. As they sat down, Lee Jordan turned around to look at the twin that was sat in the desk adjacent to Ivy's.

"Psst, George!" He whispered, unable to get his attention as George was fumbling around in his bag. "Psst! George!" He called again, slightly louder. He looked at Ivy slightly pleadingly and she sighed.

"Hey." She nudged him with her elbow. "Oi, your mate wants you." She nodded towards Lee. George smiled his thanks and turned towards Lee.

"We'll carry on working in the Common Room, yeah?" The boy grinned, giving George a thumbs-up.

A large grin spread across George's face as he replied. "Yeah, sure, mate. I've got some wicked ideas."

Lee turned back to the front, and reluctantly opened his textbook, very slowly flicking through the first few pages, until he found the correct one. He placed his chin in his hand and slowly began reading. Ivy turned and noticed that George had done the same. She stared around the classroom, having read the set pages when everyone else was enjoying the interruption a few minutes ago. She already had an idea of the Muggle currency of pounds and pence, having used it when back at home with her mother, but reviewed over it anyway.

"Now!" Began Professor Burbage, in a rather loud voice, which startled Ivy slightly, "for your homework-"

She was cut off again as the class let out a communal moan.

"If you had done more work this lesson rather than being distracted," she glared at the Weasleys and Lee. "You would have less homework. Read the chapter on Muggle currency if you haven't already, and complete a four inch essay on their money. What denominations they have, what they are worth, and how much they are in comparison to our Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. I expect this in next lesson, which I believe is…Thursday afternoon."

The class visibly slumped at the idea of having homework so early in the term, but continued reading anyway, preferring to read in the class, rather than wasting their own time. After Ivy had re-read the same passage over six times, Professor Burbage stood up, and dismissed the class. She grabbed her timetable out of her bag, and smiled as she saw what she would be doing for the next hour. The idea of a free period had brightened her day somewhat, and she made her way back to the Common Room, quickly muttering 'balderdash' and stepping through the portrait hole.

She sat on one of the chairs in the Gryffindor Common Room, her eyes darting backwards and forwards over the words of the new textbook that Professor Burbage had given to them in their last lesson. She had made the decision to get the essay over and done with, rather than letting it pile up with the rest of her parchment. It was only four inches, and could quite easily be done in an hour if she had no distraction. Just as she was pulling her quill, ink and parchment out of her bag, the Weasley Twins and Lee Jordan burst through the Portrait hole, talking quickly, excitedly, but also very loudly about something to do with betting. Ivy turned back to the parchment, attempting to ignore them, and thinking about where to start with her essay. With the Weasleys and Lee talking animatedly throughout the last five minutes, the free period looked to be one of not very much productivity.


	3. Chapter 3

Ivy was woken by the sound of her dorm-mate rustling through the many layers of clothes in her suitcase, mumbling something along the lines of "If only I could find out what he liked, then I could transfigure some of my clothes...". Ivy groaned and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands before blindly reaching for her glasses on her bedside table. She stumbled into the bathroom and grabbed some clothes on the way, tugging them on tiredly before splashing her face with water and lazily running a comb through her hair.

She wandered slowly towards the Great Hall for breakfast, enjoying simply being back in the castle. Sure, the summer wasn't that long, but being at home with her Muggle mother without using magic was definitely odd and after several weeks, she was longing to be back at school. She stared around at the many portraits as she continued on her walk and grinned as one of them waved at her. As she swung around the final corner of the staircase, she bumped into Draco, who raised his eyebrows before recognizing who had interrupted his thoughts.

"Morning, Ivy." He nodded curtly, walking alongside her, however not close enough to show any form of friendship. His large black robes billowed slightly behind him as he continued beside her.

"Hello, Draco. Have you settled back into being at school?" She asked politely, ducking under his arm and smiling her thanks as he opened the door to the Hall for her.

"We've done it enough times, I suppose. It gets easier year after year. Besides, home isn't that much." He shrugged, before tipping his head towards her as he banked right towards the Slytherin table. "I'll see you around."

"Bye, Draco." She bid him goodbye and made her way to her own House, sitting down on the bench and tucking her legs under the table. She reached for several pieces of toast and placed them on her plate before the voice of a Weasley twin invaded her train of thought.

"Why were you talking to that slimy git?" The redhead asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked across the Hall at the Slytherin side, his hair falling into his eyes.

"Excuse me?" Ivy asked, raising an eyebrow at his rudeness and pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her knuckle.

"Malfoy, the bouncing ferret. Why were you talking to him?" He repeated, looking at her this time.

"I was talking to him because we're aquaintances. I didn't realise I had to get permission from another Gryffindor. Besides, he's a lot less rude that you're being right now." She answered without missing a beat. The twin looked slightly taken aback and furrowed his forehead whilst trying to think of a reply.

"He's a slimy git. He's probably just talking to you to get something. I don't ever recall him talking to a Gryffindor without a purpose such as cursing them." He muttered, sipping slightly angrily at his Pumpkin juice.

"Oh really? And did you never think that there might be an exception?" She placed her half-eaten toast onto her plate and turned to look directly at him.

"Nope." He replied immediately, stabbing a piece of bacon with his fork. "But, apparently you caught his eye."

"You're incorrigible." She shook her head and crossed her arms.

"No, I'm George Weasley." He corrected her with a smirk.

"I think my name was slightly more appropriate." She shot back before standing up with a flourish.

"See you in Studies!" George called as she left the Hall.

"Have you even done that essay?" She shouted back, grinning smartly when she saw his face fall. "I thought not!"


End file.
